Masculine and Feminine Cultures in the World

Masculinity and Femininity

Overview

    This week's lesson discussed a subject which, on the surface, is somewhat divisive: ideas of masculinity and femininity. As it relates to culture, a masculine society endorses stereotypical gender roles (men being tough, assertive, competitive, etc., and women, the opposite/complement) whereas a feminine society partially supersedes these binaries, being more emotional and sympathetic, and accepting of equality between genders (Geert Hofstede, n.d.). The femininity-masculinity dimension was recently revised "to reflect changes in our understanding that gender is not binary" (Worthy, Lavigne, & Romero, 2025); it was renamed to motivation toward achievement and success.

Similarities and Differences Between Japan and Canada

    According to Hofstede's website, Japan has a masculinity score of 95 and Canada has a masculinity score of 52. This implies that Japan, for example, holds a great "admiration for the strong," favours a "maximum emotional and social role differentiation," affirms the notion that "work prevails over family," and so on (Hofstede, 2011, p. 12). Canada, henceforth, would hold these ideas less strongly. I think it is natural for most societies to be more dimensionally masculine, as capitalist economies often demand work be a priority in people's lives, that the strong are to be admired based on moral desert, that competition be necessitated, that material success be prioritized, etc.

    I struggle to contrast Canada and Japan on this dimension, largely because the ideas of masculinity and femininity I have been exposed to in my life are very traditional. Thus, in my immediate experience, I cannot point definitively at a difference I have observed. I can, however, acknowledge that Canada, at least sociopolitically, is much more accepting of feminist ideas than Japan is at this point in time. There is, I would conjecture, a broader sentiment championing equality between the genders both as it relates to opportunities and social roles in Canada than in Japan.

Conclusion

    The "gendering" of different societies is an interesting concept, but can lead to initial confusion based on the connotations that come with the terms used. Updated definitions like motivation toward achievement and success seem more reliable and self explanatory than the esoteric masculine-feminine binary. Japan and Canada empirically differ greatly on this dimension but I have little first-hand experience and knowledge of these differences.

References

Hofstede, G. (2011). Dimensionalizing Cultures: The Hofstede Model in Context. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1014

Geert Hofstede. (n.d.). Cultural dimensions. Geerthofstede.com. Retrieved November 17, 2025, from https://geerthofstede.com

Worthy, L. D., Lavigne, T., & Romero, F. (2025). Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. In Culture and psychology. Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–ShareAlike 4.0 International License.


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